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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29257581">young at heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveyaaas/pseuds/fiveyaaas'>fiveyaaas</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>open your heart [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(five is physically 21 and mentally 66 and vanya is 38), Anniversary, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Married Couple, Older Man/Younger Woman, Older Woman/Younger Man, Wife Guy Number Five | The Boy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:33:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,377</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29257581</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveyaaas/pseuds/fiveyaaas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“<b>young at heart</b>: thinking and acting like young people”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>open your heart [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138898</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>young at heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarpeDiemForLife/gifts">CarpeDiemForLife</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Alright, now I am actually caught up on this series lol!!! I’m going to try to only be posting for this series and my Vanya/Allison Femslash February for a bit, but I promise that once Valentine’s Day is over that I’ll post a few fic updates and a few new multi-chaps/one-shots!!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She was avoiding his gaze, and Five opened his mouth, trying to figure out what had upset his wife. It was the third anniversary of their wedding, and she kept fiddling with her hair and glancing down. Based on the self-conscious way she kept staring at the graying strands within her grasp, he could figure out where this was going, though, and he wondered why anybody in the small vacation town they’d gone to would bother pulling the same bullshit they got anywhere else. On some level he understood that he looked like a 21 year old, that his wife was 38, but he’d thought they’d gotten past the funny looks they’d received when they’d first gotten together. </p><p>Though Five didn’t care about Vanya’s age at all, there was still that familiar sting when he realized that he didn’t look the way he was supposed to, that she’d likely pass before he did. He grabbed her hand, then, and it wasn’t just for her own comfort. </p><p>“Whatever they said,” he insisted. “They’re idiots.”</p><p>She blushed, glancing up before darting her eyes back down. “Do you think… do you—”</p><p>Five drew their clasped hands close, brushing his lips to her whitened knuckles. “Not for a second.” If he was with somebody the age that he <em> looked, </em>some random person he met… Well, suffice to say, his wife had no reason to worry. Especially considering she’d made his second chance at life the most wonderful thing he could imagine. “I’ve never wanted anybody besides you, anyways. You know I can’t stand anybody that… didn’t experience the bullshit that we experienced.”</p><p>“Doesn’t it bother you at all?”</p><p>She had asked this so many times before, and each time he answered honestly, knowing that was what she wanted from him. “As I’ve told you, not in <em> that </em>way. It unsettles me that you’ll likely… pass on—” Never before had he been able to say that without gritted teeth and a clenched jaw. “Before me. That I don’t look like my true age…”</p><p>“You know it doesn’t bother me, right? What you look like?” Her eyes get all watery, that wrinkle forming between her brows. He kissed her hand again, pressing his lips lightly to her until her shoulders sag. “I do not want you to think that <em> that </em>is why… I get so…” </p><p>When the tears spilled over, Five asked gruffly, “Would you like to get out of here?”</p><p>She nodded, and he blinked them back to the place they were staying, laying her down on the mattress and letting her curl into his side when he climbed in beside her. </p><p>“I don’t understand how…” He tried to figure out how to say what he was thinking, to not make his words come out cruel or callous. Five had struggled with that plenty, never having been able to interact with people very easily after not being able to communicate with other people for years. Ultimately, he just phrased it like a question, “Why is it that you never are upset when it’s the other way around? How it doesn’t bother you what I look like? Don’t you understand that what you look like doesn’t matter to me too?” There were more words that he could say, that seeing her age was the loveliest sight he’d ever witnessed, that he cherished every new gray hair and the developing wrinkles around her eyes. That having the privilege of getting to see her grow old was something he’d never expected to see happen before he died.</p><p>She glanced down. “I mean, sometimes I just think I look ridiculous.”</p><p>Five wished his heart didn’t stutter a beat, knowing that her ears would certainly pick up on it. “What do you mean by that?” Even though his voice was carefully nonchalant, he knew that she could still hear his heartbeat, that she’d know how nervous he was, convinced that she was about to suggest she wanted a divorce or didn’t want him or—</p><p>“It’s just that not only do I see the way people look at us… <em> Every </em>time somebody comments on it, I hear. I know that they don’t realize that I hear it when they say stuff, but it’s just…” She looked away, cheeks flushed. “I can’t help but wonder that you’re going to stop wanting me at some point.”</p><p>
  <em> Oh.  </em>
</p><p>“Vanya, you <em> never </em>have to worry about me leaving again, okay? I’m not planning to leave you, and—”</p><p>“What if you found someone else, though?”</p><p>“You realize that if I was with someone that looked my age, I would be 45 years older than them, right? I don’t even see myself willingly having a conversation with an actual twenty-one year old. There is nothing to ever stress over in that regard.”</p><p>“How could my age not bother you?”</p><p>He didn’t want to spend his anniversary fighting about this, but he also thought she was acting completely absurd. “How could <em> my </em> age not bother <em> you?”  </em></p><p>And then as soon as the words were out, he felt like they’d been at the surface of his mind for a while, the insecurity that she was uncomfortable with this, even though she constantly assured him that she was fine. Though he was never uncomfortable with their relationship, he was uncomfortable with this body constantly. No matter how much time passed, he didn’t ever feel like he was in the right body, avoiding staring too long at it, literally getting to see his failures each time he passed by a mirror. </p><p>“People don't ever think that <em> you </em> are having a midlife crisis. Nobody ever says that <em> I’m </em> only with <em> you </em>because I want money or whatever.”</p><p>Five frowned at her. “Why does that matter to you? You know it’s not true.”</p><p>“Right, but…” She sighed.</p><p>Noticing the way that she didn’t sound angry, just sad, Five forced down the irritation he was feeling, that she would suggest he’d want to leave her or that she didn’t want this. He knew at the heart of it, they were both just insecure about this. Five was in his 60s by this point, and he was mature enough to know that neither of them were actually mad at <em>each other</em>. “Please don’t worry about this, Vanya,” he said, pulling her the slightest bit closer.</p><p>“I’m really sorry that I got so upset,” she muttered. “I’m sorry that I ruined—”</p><p>“Don’t be sorry, V.” He kissed her temple. “I’m not mad at you, and don’t you dare try to say that you ruined <em> anything.” </em></p><p>“It’s our anniversary.” She shifted so she was looking down at him, her hair spilling over his chest. “I shouldn’t have gotten so upset about that.”</p><p>“There’s nothing <em> wrong </em>with getting upset about it, Vanya. It’s something that we’ll probably both have to just get used to. At the very least, the longer we’re together the less you’ll hear bullshit about it. As it is, though, I’m very happy to see you aging.”</p><p>She smiled ruefully, and he wanted to kiss her crow’s feet as it grew more distinct with the change in her expression. “Really?”</p><p>“I never had a chance to see you at this age.” He shrugged. “I mean, I wished I had never left, of course, but… do you not understand what you growing older means to me?” At her confused expression, he quickly explained, “It means you’re <em> alive, </em>Vanya. When I was your age, I had accepted that none of you would ever grow as old as you are now, that I would probably never see you again. It was always at the back of my mind, at least, though I never stopped trying to go home.” Thumbing at her cheek gently, he told her, “I’d never want to leave you for giving me something… that I never thought I’d be able to have.”</p><p>“How much time do we have left of our anniversary?”</p><p>“Three hours and…” He flicked his eyes to his watch. “Forty nine minutes. Unless you were going by the time zone that we got married in, which would be—” She climbed onto his lap, and he forced down laughter. “Got it, I’m shutting up now.”</p><p>Before she pressed her lips to his, she told him, “I love you. Happy anniversary.”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading!!!💕</p></blockquote></div></div>
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